Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen threw the warning flag this morning.

The US government has hit the legal limit on how much money it can borrow, and Congress must approve an increase to avoid a debt default in the coming months, Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said this morning.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Yellen announced the Treasury would begin taking “extraordinary measures” to make the government’s cash on hand last until Congress acts. These include a “debt issuance suspension period” lasting from today till 5 June, as well as suspending investments into two government employee retirement funds.

On cue, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has come out with one of his trademark inflammatory pronouncements.

…Schumer’s statement backed up the Joe Biden White House’s demands that Republicans controlling the US House agree to raise the country’s so-called debt ceiling without conditions, though several GOP lawmakers have said the president’s staff must be willing to compromise.

“This is not complicated: if the Maga GOP stops paying our nation’s bills, Americans will be the ones to pay the price,” Schumer’s statement Thursday argued. “Political brinkmanship with the debt limit would be a massive hit to local economies, American families and would be nothing less than an economic crisis at the hands of the Republicans.”

That tired, ever so predictable croaking of MAGA MAGA MAGA has all the impact of “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.” Give it a rest, Chuck.

And the usual slimy suspects are already talking smack.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California said Wednesday that Democrats would “go around” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to fund aid to Ukraine and raise the debt ceiling.

“The greatest asset that Russia has now would be a Republican Party that is unwilling to help Ukraine,” Swalwell told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace. “So there is a lot on the line. And Democrats are united to deliver the votes.”

RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA My eyes can’t make it any further back in my skull.

With regards to congressional Republicans, it sure sounds like they’re hanging tough at the moment. After all, isn’t that what people voted them in to do?

House Republicans from swing districts are flatly rejecting the White House’s position that there be no negotiations with Congress over raising the national debt ceiling, insisting that they won’t bend to the Democrats’ take-it-or-leave-it approach to avoid the first-ever debt default with no conditions attached.

The Republicans, many of whom hail from districts that President Joe Biden won or narrowly lost and are seen as the most likely to break ranks with their party’s leadership, said they are not willing to back a “clean” debt ceiling increase, insisting there must be some fiscal agreement first. That view is in line with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is calling for negotiations with the White House before a possible default occurs later this year.

As for “duking it out,” all signs point to “yes.” Since he was handed the gavel, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly been telling the White House they needed to be willing to come to the table because nothing will happen without negotiations.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday stuck by his insistence that Republicans will force steep federal debt reductions by negotiating a budget accord with President Biden and Senate Democrats, which he says can avert the projected dire economic impact from a standoff: default.

“I would like to sit down with all the leaders and especially the president and start having discussions,” McCarthy said Tuesday at the Capitol, telling reporters that leaders have an estimated six months before the U.S. will not be able to cover its bills without a hike in the Treasury’s authority to borrow.

“Who wants to put the nation through some type of threat at the last minute with the debt ceiling? Nobody wants to do that,” the Speaker added.

McCarthy has been repeating conservatives’ arguments for federal spending cuts or capped spending almost daily.

“We don’t want to put any fiscal problems to our economy and we won’t,” he said last week. “But fiscal problems would be continuing to do business as usual.”

House Republicans say the Biden White House’s intransigence on working towards an agreement is going to “misfire badly” not to mention just plain leaving a bad taste in lawmakers’ mouths. That won’t help things a bit.

…“I’m not in favor of Biden’s no-negotiating strategy, and I’m not inclined to help,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican whose Nebraska district Biden carried, indicating Republicans campaigned against government spending and inflation.

“The GOP can’t demand the moon, and Biden can’t refuse to negotiate. There needs to be give-and-take on both sides.”

Bacon said there needs to be “good faith” talks with the White House and some “commitment for fiscal restraint” before he would even consider signing onto a discharge petition.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York freshman who also hails from a Biden district, said that Democrats aren’t going to be able to work around McCarthy and the House GOP majority.

“They need to come to a realization pretty quickly they are no longer in a one-party controlled government, and it requires negotiation,” Lawler told CNN, adding that it’s “very rational and reasonable” for two parties to meet in the middle. “It’s not Republicans acquiescing to Democrats.”

Democrats have been able to dictate terms for far too long. They may have a rough time adjusting to a GOP Congress that actually even comes close to doing half of what it said it would if voters empowered and entrusted them.

Democrats assert that the debt limit is the wrong place/time to address soaring deficits. Fine.

But with 70% of spending and nearly all taxes on autopilot – untouchable in the annual budget process – perhaps they can tell us when they *would* be willing to address the issue?

— Brian Riedl 🧀 🇺🇦 (@Brian_Riedl) January 17, 2023

In that vein, Republicans are united and sticking to their guns, and McCarthy is unequivocal about what he expects from the opposition party. There will be a debt ceiling parley. Period.

…McCarthy has not been clear about what precisely he wants in return to raise the debt limit. But he has made clear he won’t accept a clean increase and that talks with the White House should begin immediately to avoid putting the country on the edge of a cliff.

“We’re six months away,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “Why wouldn’t we sit down now and change this behavior, that we would put ourselves on a more fiscally strong position?”

McCarthy has also made good on another promise – this morning he did away with Nancy Pelosi’s pandemic proxy voting.

No more proxy voting. Effective immediately, Members of Congress have to show up to work if they want their vote to count.

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) January 19, 2023

Yeah, buddy – butts in chairs – no more phoning it in.

They may not do much, but at least they’ll have to physically be there.

You can bet that’s going to have a bunch of noses out of joint. It’ll almost be like going to work again.

Democrats might even be cranky enough to work a deal out.